The Spider and the Avatar
by AzureSpider
Summary: A non-too serious crossover idea inspired by the fact that JK Simmons has played both J Jonah Jameson and Tenzin. In this fusion fic, Korra's attempts to learn airbending from the cantankerous son of Aang hit a roadblock when she learns that Tenzin has one thing on his mind and one thing only: getting some pictures of that no-good Spider-Man!


**Author's Note: Just a joke I decided to turn into a little crossover. Not expecting anything long-term to come out of this. Just me taking a break from the long-term projects I seem to be addicted to, also funny enough being a crossover between the two mediums I'm doing ongoing projects for.**

**But anyways, enough talk. Enjoy my story!**

When Korra first got to see Tenzin up close along with his wife and two daughters, she had to admit that he wasn't exactly what she'd expected.

For one, there was his hair. Most Air Nomads were bald, or at least that was what Katara had told Korra. But Tenzin not only had a full head of hair, it was in a style she had never seen before. Truth be told, it looked just a bit goofy to her eyes. The hair was black, but graying temples were also present clear as day. But just as eye-catching as Tenzin's hair was his moustache, one that was at least six decades out of style and looking every bit as ridiculous as his hair.

Finally, there was Tenzin's expression, which was one of perpetual irritation as his heavy eyebrows formed into a serious frown, and the shape of his mouth underneath his moustache finished it off. Simply put, he did not look happy to see Korra, or anyone for that matter.

"Um…hello Master Tenzin." Korra said, bowing in respect and doing her very best to not sound perturbed by her would-be Airbending instructor's unexpected appearance.

"Yes, yes hello. And don't call me 'master' cause I ain't your master. Now whaddya want?"

"Well, actually, it's your not being my master yet that was what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I was sort of hoping you could teach me Airbending…"

"What? Teach you airbending? I don't have time for that! Not until I get some photos of that wall-crawling menace _Spider-Man_!"

"Spider-Man?"

"Spider-Man's a masked character who showed up in Republic City not that long ago." Tenzin's wife Pema explained. "He's been fighting all sorts of criminals that have been plaguing Republic City lately…"

"But why is he called Spider-Man?" Korra asked.

"Because he does whatever a Spider-Cat can, only he's not part cat, so he's called Spider-Man instead!" one of Tenzin's two daughters said happily, jumping for joy as she did. "Spider-Man is _**so **_awesome! When I grow up, I'm gonna become _**just **_like him!"

"But how would you acquire his powers?" the older daughter Jinora calmly asked her sister Ikki.

"Oh please, that's easy! I'll just go find a Spider-Cat, let it bite or scratch me, and I'll get Spider-Man's powers that way! I bet that's how _he_ got _his_ powers!"

"I find that explanation highly improbable and unbelievable" Jinora replied simply. "I think it's much more likely that Spider-Man got his powers from the Spirits, or perhaps he was born with them and developed them naturally, like this one group I've been reading about called the…"

"_Anyway_" Pema said, cutting her daughter off and bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand. "…Spider-Man's been making quite the impression on Republic City, webbing up criminals and all that. Personally, I think it's kind of great what he's doing. Helping everyone out when he can. It's admirable."

"Admirable? Admirable? Please. That no-good web-slinging whacko is nothing but a cheap charlatan and attention-seeker. He's a _menace. _That's what he is!"

"I don't know, if he's fighting criminals and protecting people I'd think he'd be a pretty good guy…"

"Well you'd think wrong!" Tenzin snapped. "Look, I have proof with me here!" As Tenzin said this he took out a picture and showed it. The image was in fact rather blurry, and Korra could only barely make out a figure zipping off in one direction, seemingly flying through mid-air. "He's right there" Tenzin pointed to the blurry image of the man. "_Fleeing the scene! _That's a criminal to me!"

"He wasn't fleeing the scene, he was probably going off to go help somebody else." Pema said, trying to reign her husband in a bit. "He's a _hero._"

"Then why does he wear a mask?" Tenzin demanded. "What's he got to hide?"

"Maybe so none of the bad guys can learn who he is and attack him and his loved ones?" Korra suggested. "What if he has people he cares about that he doesn't want to be hurt because of him? So he wears a mask to make sure none of his enemies can know who he is."

"Korra's got a point dear." Pema said, again trying to soothe her husband. But he would have none of it.

"I say we should form a posse and hunt that menace down. String him up by his own webs!"

Korra sighed and shook her head. "Look, are you going to help me or not?"

"What are you deaf, or do you just have a very short memory? I said no. I'm busy! My newspaper doesn't run itself, and I still haven't got any good photos of Spider-Man! Not one!"

By this point Korra felt as though she were yelling at a stubborn Gorilla Goat, but in essence that was about what Tenzin seemed to be. But then, Korra got an idea: "Say…if _I _got you some photos of Spider-Man, would you teach me airbending then?"

Tenzin seemed to consider this for a moment. Frowning but nevertheless nodding, Tenzin said: "Alright fine. You get me pictures of Spider-Man, and I'll teach you airbending."

Korra smiled. "Sweet! That means I get to go to Republic City after all!"

-X-

He'd been doing it for a little over a month now, and it still hadn't gotten the least bit old.

With another "whoop!" of joy derived from the exhilaration of swinging through the tall buildings of Republic City on his sturdy web-lines, the Amazing Spider-Man continued to make his way through the city blocks. It was a nice and sunny day outside too, ensuring that it was as good a time as any for Spider-Man to be out and about.

But of course his swings through the city weren't all fun and games. The second his eyes, ears, or trusty Spider Sense picked up any sign of trouble or danger, he'd be swinging down to the source of it ready to do his part to stop the bad guys and keep the people of Republic City safe from harm.

So far it had been going well. His superheroics had ensured that already quite a few different criminals (including members of all the different bending gangs) had been stopped in the process of committing a variety of different crimes, and already people everywhere were talking about him, "The Amazing Spider-Man". Others called him "Spectacular", or "Sensational". But he clearly had people who appreciated him and the good that he did to keep people safe from harm.

And then of course there were the detractors, chief among them Republic City's main newspaper _The Daily Bugle. _As far as Spider-Man was concerned, the Bugle's publisher Tenzin had a serious axe to grind against him. Why that was, Spider-Man didn't know, nor could he come up with or fathom any possible reasons for why Tenzin would hate him so much and go out of his way to condemn him as a menace. He only wanted to help people.

And as it so happened, not long after thinking about this Spider-Man felt his Spider-Sense start up again. With that meaning only one possible thing, Spider-Man stuck himself to the nearest building he could find and started looking about for where the danger was. It wasn't long before he saw it: fleeing from pursuing metalbending police and causing destruction as he went was a particularly dangerous bender Spider-Man had already run into. He was a Sandbender who had been exiled from his tribe and from there made his way to Republic City. Most people in the city knew him as "The Sandman."

Knowing better than most just how powerful and dangerous the Sandman was, Spider-Man decided it best if he got involved and lend the metalbending police a helping hand, even if they didn't always appreciate his assistance. Nevertheless, Spider-Man swung down towards where Sandman was, with him using his bending to conjure up a massive hurricane of sand that sent satomobiles into the air and down on the pursuing metalbending Police. Seeing this, Spider-Man unleashed his webbing on the satomobiles, webbing them up before they could impact. This also happened to get the attention of the metalbending police and nearby citizens, all of whom looked up at their red and blue clad hero swinging into action.

"Go Spidey go!" one man shouted in encouragement. Smiling behind his mask, Spider-Man kept up his pursuit of Sandman. Seeing him coming, Sandman fired out several blasts of his namesake, but Spider-Man easily evaded every attack. Making his way down to where Sandman was, Spider-Man swung around to cut him off.

"Now, Sandy, I know you've got your social issues and all, but you just can't keep running away whenever someone's trying to talk to you. It's hurtful. I feel hurt right now…"

"You're about to feel a lot _more_ hurt web-slinger!" Sandman roared, as he did firing out a wave of sand that Spider-Man would have seen coming even without his Spider-Sense, evading it with ease.

"Ah come on Sandy, don't get like that. I'm sure we can talk about this and come to a nice, peaceful way of resolving our differences, don't you?"

"Shut up!" Sandman replied, again firing out a blast of sand that Spider-Man evaded.

"Alright, have it your way. Guess I'm gonna have to kick your ass again."

"I don't think so webhead. I've gotten stronger since the last time. I can control _**any**_ sand I see now. _**Any sand at all!**_"

"And yet _still _so pressed for cash you gotta knock over a bank once a week. Ah well. Win some you lose some right?"

Sandman roared in anger and fired out yet another sand blast before following it up with more complex sandbending moves. Spider-Man avoided and evaded each attack as it came but as a whirlwind of sand began to surround him, Spider-Man found himself grateful he was wearing a mask with lenses to protect his eyes. Nevertheless, Sandman was clearly doing what he could to keep Spider-Man at bay. Consuming himself in a cyclone of sand, the villain was nowhere to be found once the sand storm stopped.

Spider-Man wasn't fooled though. He knew that Sandman had simply changed positions. Warned by his Spider-Sense, Spider-Man leaped backwards into the air over Sandman' head as he came surging forward. Spider-Man fired some webbing at Sandman as he leaped over him, but Sandman formed a shield of sand to block the webbing as it came. As Spider-Man landed, he saw Sandman use his sandbending to cover both of his arms in his chosen element, with one forming the shape of a large hammer, and the other a mace head.

"Wait, what? I don't remember you being able to do that…"

"I told you, I've gotten more powerful since we last met! And now I'm gonna club you to death to prove it!"

"No, no I think you've proven your point quite well enough now. No need for clubbing me to death."

Unfazed, Sandman came charging towards Spider-Man, swinging his weaponized arms about. Spider-Man evaded each swing, hack, and slash as it came, all the while trying to get in a clear hit. Finally, he managed to kick one of Sandman's legs out from under him, and then followed this up by first side-stepping to avoid Sandman's retaliatory attack and then webbing up his leg before moving on to the other one. Sandman continued to swing around wildly, but Spider-Man kept his distance and just kept unleashing his webbing until soon he had Sandman just about cocooned in webbing.

"Aaaand…that's a wrap! Yeah, cliché, I know but come on. You gotta admit that it fits here…"

As Spider-Man said this, the metalbending police caught up with him and Sandman. Among them was none other than Chief Lin Bei-Fong herself, who as usual did not look happy to see Spider-Man.

"Alright, that's enough. We'll take it from here. Now get out of here before I decide to arrest you too."

Spider-Man held up his hands. "Hey whoa, whoa easy. I was just trying to help. That's what I do."

"You should have let the police handle it instead of rushing in by yourself like a fool. You could have gotten yourself hurt."

"Relax lady, this little spider is tougher than he looks. Besides that, I saved some of your men's lives back there…"

"He is kind of right about that chief…" one of the Metalbending police officers said nervously before Lin whipped around and silenced him with one single withering glare that told him his job was on the line if he uttered one more word. Lin then turned back around to face Spider-Man. "Listen kid; you may have helped out some here and there, but the police are here for a reason. We're not part-time volunteers. We have a job, and we don't need help from a vigilante."

"Correction: you don't _want _any help from a vigilante, but this vigilante's just beaten Sandman tw—"

Before Spider-Man could finish his sentence, his spider-sense started to go off. Turning around, he saw that the web cocoon he had previously trapped Sandman in was now an empty pile on the ground. And coming towards Spider-Man was…a moving pile of sand.

"What the he-?"

Spider-Man was so caught by surprise by this that he neglected to move out of the way in time. The sand mound enveloped itself over Spider-Man's legs and then began surging upwards, threatening to consume him in itself.

But before the sand mound could finish consuming Spider-Man, a blast of water rocketed towards the sand and struck it head on. The water quickly turned the sand muddy and prompted it to retreat.

Turning to the source of the water blast, Spider-Man saw a young woman in Water Tribe clothing who's facial expression was one of total confidence.

"Thanks miss. Never had to deal with living sand before…"

As Spider-Man said this, the still muddy mound retreated and disappeared down a drain.

"So what was that you said about beating Sandman?" Lin Bei-Fong asked sarcastically.

Spider-Man turned back to face her. "Hey come on, I didn't know the guy could turn _into _sand! I thought he could just _control _it, like any other bender…"

As Spider-Man said this, he neglected to notice Korra pull out a camera Tenzin had given her. Next thing he knew, the sound of a bulb flashing could be heard. Spider-Man turned around and saw Korra snap another picture.

"Gotcha."

"No you don't." Spider-Man said, shooting a web-line at Korra's camera and taking it. "Sorry miss, but I'm not really all that photogenic. I'm a shy Spider-Man. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going."

And with that, Spider-Man web-swung into the air, leaving Korra, Lin Bei-Fong, and her officers behind.

-X-

_The Daily Bugle _was one of the taller buildings in Republic City, and bore it's trumpet logo proudly on it's front and top, along with giant letters. Looking up at it, Korra couldn't help but help be a bit overwhelmed by the sight of the building. Ultimately though, Korra managed to get enough composure to walk inside. She figured she'd better get her having to break it to Tenzin that she had failed over with as soon as possible.

Making her way into the _Daily Bugle_, Korra was greeted to a large number of people busily working at their desks or else running around. Making her way past the clamor, Korra went straight for what she identified as Tenzin's office. She stopped in front of a young woman with brown hair who looked to be not that much older than Korra who smiled upon seeing her.

"Hello. May I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm Korra. I need to speak with Tenzin about something he told me to do…"

The secretary's face became one of complete and utter pity. She knew as well as Korra herself did that she was a dead woman walking. And indeed, as Korra said this, the door to Tenzin's office opened and he all but threw a scrawny bespectacled man out by the seat of his pants.

"_**Get out! **_That is the _**dumbest **_idea you have ever had, and you have had some _**doozies!**_"

"Boss, remember; blood-pressure." Tenzin nodded before retreating back into his office. The receptionist turned back to face Korra: "I really don't think you should go in there right now…"

"Look, he's gonna be mad no matter what I say or do, or when I say it. I figure I should just get it over with now."

The receptionist sighed. "Alright, if you insist. May the Spirits be with you." And with this, the receptionist pressed a button and spoke into the machine: "Boss, someone else here to see you. She says her name is Korra."

"Korra huh? Let her in."

Korra breathed a sigh of relief as the door was opened and she walked in, bracing herself for Tenzin's coming fury. How someone so temperamental and irritable could have ever learned airbending at all was a mystery to Korra, never mind mastered it. But then Korra also figured that if _he _could learn airbending with his disposition, then she definitely could.

"So, back already. That tells me that either A) You're a damn good photographer, or B) You screwed up already. Which is it?" 

"Uh, well…I…"

"Okay, so it's "B" then." Tenzin shook his head. "Ah figures. No one's been able to get a good photo of that charlatan yet…"

"_I _have!" came a young male voice. Both Korra and Tenzin turned to the source of it. He was a young and fairly scrawny man who was no older than Korra. He had a head full of messy brown hair, youthful features that showed his age clear as day, and a lopsided grin. He was also dressed in fairly worn out looking clothes.

As he walked in, he nervously gave his name: "My name is Zhi Zhu, and I've gotten some photos of Spider-Man that I think you might be interested in."

Tenzin raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well hand 'em over and let me see what you've got."

Zhi Zhu nodded and took out some pictures that he then handed over. Incredibly, each photo was indeed a solid shot of Spider-Man in action, nowhere near as blurry or poor in quality as the one Korra had seen earlier. These were legitimate shots, even if Tenzin was reluctant to admit that.

"Ah…crap, crap, crap, crap…ah this one's okay I guess." Tenzin looked up at Zhi Zhu. "I'll give you 200 Yuans for all of them."

"That seems a little low…"

"Well kid look at it like this: you're a freelancer, and freelancers don't get paid more than 300. Ever. And you just came here out of nowhere, so I'm not paying you tops if that's what you were expecting."

"Uh, no sir I wasn't. But even so, can you at least raise it 250?"

Tenzin chuckled at this before his smile quickly turned into a frown. "230, and not a yuan more." Tenzin quickly wrote out a check. "Give this to the lady whose desk is right in front of my office and she'll see that you get paid."

"Thanks." Zhi Zhu said. As he took the check he added: "And also…I was kind of hoping that I could start working here regularly. I mean I need the money, and as you can see I can get you good pictures of Spider-Man…"

"Correction, you can get me _okay-ish _pictures of Spider-Man."

"Yeah, and how did you manage to get those pictures anyway?" Korra asked in a suspicious tone. "I tried and he just snatched my camera away when he saw me."

"I didn't let him see me."

"And you still got pictures this good?"

Zhi Zhu shrugged. "I guess I just got lucky. Or maybe I actually know what I'm doing."

Korra frowned in response to this. "Careful buddy."

"What? I'm just saying." Zhi Zhu turned back to face Tenzin. "All the same sir, I would really like to have a job here. Again, I need the money, and I can get you pictures."

Tenzin frowned as Zhi Zhu said this. Finally, he shook his head and turned his back to both Korra and Zhi Zhu. "You want to learn airbending, and you want a job here. Anybody care about what _I _want?"

"I do!" came the voice of the man Korra had earlier seen be thrown out.

"Shut up. Get out." Tenzin demanded bluntly.

-X-

Returning from his trip to the _Daily Bugle, _Zhi Zhu couldn't help but be a bit hopeful that he would indeed come to work for Tenzin full-time. Granted, he didn't love the idea of working for a guy who went out of his way to demonize his alter-ego, but even so the job did have it's benefits, not the least of which was getting Zhi Zhu and his elderly aunt some much needed money. Ever since Zhi Zhu's uncle had died…

Zhi Zhu shook the unpleasant thoughts away and kept walking. As he crossed a street though, his Spider-Sense alerted him to the presence of something coming his way fast. And that in turn told him he needed to get out of the way.

Instinctively ducking to one side, Zhi Zhu nearly lost his precious camera as he hit the dirt. Turning to the side to see what the source of the danger was, he saw a young woman on a moped racing by before then skidding to a halt. Looking over her shoulder as she disembarked from her moped, the woman made her way over to where Zhi Zhu was.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't see you…"

"I'm fine, but how could you not see me? I was…"

Zhi Zhu was cut off when the woman took her helmet off and he got to see what she looked like underneath it. Her hair was long, thick, and black, and she flipped it to one side as she took her helmet off. She adorned her eyes with some eyeshadow and her lips were an attractive crimson. And her face itself was one he found himself quite lost on, shamelessly staring at it as he found himself quite drawn to her delicate and beautiful features.

"Wow…"

"What?"

"You're…uh…" Zhi Zhu took in a deep breath and, mustering up what he could of the courage he enjoyed as Spider-Man said: "…you're really pretty."

The young woman, a woman who looked to be only a few years older than him if at all, blushed at this remark. "Thanks. It's not every day someone I almost run over compliments me like that…"

"Ah that's alright." Zhi Zhu said, brushing off the woman's brief lapse in judgment as far as managing her speed went. "No harm no foul. I'm fine."

"That's good to know." The girl said. She extended a brown gloved hand. "My name is Asami."

"Hello Asami." Zhi Zhu said, taking her hand and shaking it before introducing himself. "My name is Zhi Zhu."

"Pleased to meet you. Say, uh…if you don't mind, I'd like to make this up to you somehow…"

Normally, Zhi Zhu would have said that there was no need for that and that she was being much too hard on herself. But the idea of possibly spending more than just one short moment with this attractive young woman was one that Zhi Zhu found very enticing indeed. So he decided to encourage her.

"…like what exactly?"

"Well, uh…maybe I could treat you to dinner sometime?"

Zhi Zhu wasn't sure he heard that right. They'd only just met and she was already asking him out? Zhi Zhu felt light-headed. His fortunes had never seemed better. Even his earlier success at the _Daily Bugle _paled in comparison to this.

"I'd love to." Zhi Zhu said unhesitantly. "Any ideas where we'd be eating?"

"Sure. How does Kuang's Cuisine sound?"

"Kuang's? Lady, just look at me. I'm not the kind of person who goes to Kuang's. I'm the kind of guy they chase away with a broom."

Asami giggled in response to this, which only caused Zhi Zhu's heart to race. "I'll take care of that. You just need to show up."

"I will." Zhi Zhu said nervously.

"Good. And Zhi Zhu...call me Asami."

"Okay Asami." Zhi Zhu said with a smile.

-X-

Back in Tenzin's office, Korra was continuing to try and convince the cantankerous airbending master to teach her.

"Nope, sorry, a deal's a deal. That Zhi Zhu kid was the one who delivered, not you. Which means you can now get your keister out of my office!"

"But I need to learn airbending!" Korra said exasperated.

Tenzin made a mocking frowny face in response to this. "Aw…miss Biyu!" Tenzin's secretary walked in. "Yes?"

"Get me a violin."

"Come on!" Korra protested. "This is serious! The Avatar needs to master all four elements! It's like, the main part of the job. Your dad was the Avatar before me, you should know this better than anyone!"

"Oh I know alright." Tenzin said, continuing to smoke his cigar as he did. "I just don't care. Business comes first, and you ain't my business. Now get out of my office!"

Snarling, Korra shot out a small water-whip that knocked over most of the items on Tenzin's desk before pointing directly at him: "This isn't over. I _will _learn airbending. I promise you I will."

"Go try finding a _sky bison _to teach you." Tenzin suggested in a mocking tone. "Learn airbending _the old-fashioned way! _Ha!"

**Author's Note: And folks, there you go. The end of my joke turned into a full-blown crossover, at least for now. I gotta say I had fun with this. **

**And for those who were wondering, Zhi Zhu translates to Spider in Chinese, so I figured it would be an appropriate name for the Asian themed Avatar world's equivalent to Spider-Man. I couldn't just call him Peter Parker after all.**


End file.
